This project aimed to determine the impact that distance to the nearest reproductive health clinic and state abortion policies have on maternal, infant, and sexual health outcomes across the United States.
The top map here shows the social determinants of health used in our models, including our variables of interest: distance to care and state abortion policies. The bottom map shows county-level maternal, infant, and sexual health outcomes across the country.
Our model accounted for county-level education, race, and income statistics and found that further distance to reproductive health clinics was associated with higher maternal mortality rates, higher infant mortality rates, higher teen birth rate, and higher chlamydia rates.
Our model also found that more restrictive state-level abortion policies were associated with higher maternal mortality rates, higher infant mortality rates, higher teen birth rate, and higher low birthweight rates.
Although there are certainly other underlying social factors that influence these health outcomes, this research provides strong evidence that better access to reproductive health clinics and less restrictive abortion policies are associated with better maternal, infant, and sexual health outcomes.
SOCIAL DETERMINANTS